


on the banks of lake lyn

by eg1701



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Angst, But only a little, Canon Divergence, Character Death, Episode: s02e20 Beside Still Water, Hurt Magnus Bane, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Protective Alec Lightwood, Valentine is the worst, but then not, does any of this make sense?, he's literally the worst, low-key implied homophobia from the worst valentine, probably not, this is kinda sad, this kept me up for like three nights in a row, valentine hates downworlders, why am i like this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 11:32:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11873481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eg1701/pseuds/eg1701
Summary: Alec raised himself to his knees, and try as he might, he couldn’t find the strength to stand up all the way. His head was spinning and he was looking everywhere but at Magnus and at the slowly spreading blood on the ground.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In which Alec and Magnus head to Lake Lyn to stop Valentine instead of Jace and Clary.





	on the banks of lake lyn

The walk had been awkward to say the least. Of course, saving the entire Downworld was more important than any argument they had had, but things were still awkward. Alec wanted to talk. He wanted Magnus to say something, but any attempt to talk had been shut down by Magnus’s insistence that he needed to concentrate. Maybe he should have gone with Jace, Clary, Catarina, and Izzy to fight the demons. It might have been easier than this. If they had a third person here, Alec might have someone to talk to and it wouldn’t just be him and Magnus. They hadn’t really been alone together since Magnus said they needed a break.  
Alec had decided not to call it a break up, because saying the words break up made him tear up. It was easier to make it temporary. Breaks had ends.  
The awkwardness did gave Alec more than one reason to be relieved that they'd reached Lake Lyn. It was silent, and Alec knew if Valentine had raised the Angel, they would know.  
“We did it,” Alec said, turning back to Magnus with a look of triumph on his face, “we did it. If Valentine had raised the angel we'd know.” It was the first thing he’d said in a little while now.  
Magnus smiled in spite of himself. They had finally gained the upper hand. After all this time, after all of the cruel things Valentine had inflicted, they had finally won. They had finally bested him.  


They had spoken too soon, if the knife through Magnus’s back was any indication. Alec reacted a split second too late, and by the time he’d reached Magnus, there was already blood staining his shirt and he was already gasping for breath.  


"Filthy warlock,” Valentine muttered, wiping his knife on his jeans. Alec felt his own blood rushing in his ears, and he was vaguely aware of Valentine near him. He wasn’t aware of much else.  


Magnus made some feeble attempts, but his magic wasn’t working. The blue sparks flickered at first, then ceased to appear altogether. It was too late for that.  
“Shhh,” Alec said, crawling over towards him, “Save your strength. You’re alright. You’re going to be alright.”  
“Alexander?”  
“I’m here. You’re alright,” Alec said, his hands shaking as much as his voice. He tried to press down on the wound to staunch the blood flow, but the wound was too serious. The blood seeped through his finger, covering his hands. He tried very hard to pretend it wasn’t what it was.  
Magnus was going to die. And Alec couldn’t stop it. After everything, he couldn’t stop it.  
“Love you,” Magnus whispered, “Sorry.”  


And that was it. If Alec hadn’t just lost someone who he was sure was the great love of his life, he’d have laughed at how anticlimactic it was. Magnus told him once he intended to go out with a great flourish, not bleeding from a stab wound, on the banks of Lake Lyn.  


“Don’t be sorry,” he sobbed, “I love you. Please don’t die.”  
Magnus couldn’t hear him of course, Magnus was dead and he wouldn’t ever hear Alec say I love you again. He wouldn’t hear Alec say anything again.  
“You could still join me,” Valentine said, and if Alec wasn’t sure of Valentine’s insanity before, he was now. In what world would he want to join Valentine? Even if Valentine thought that Alec and Magnus were appalling (which he most definitely did), it was clear they loved each other. Who would want to join the man who just killed your soulmate, “Now that you are free from all of that. You could join me. I can’t have Jace, but you’re the next best thing. You’re his Parabatai.”  
“You’re insane,” Alec said. His voice was hoarse and it felt like he had only just learned how to speak, “Jace is going to kill you.”  
“Not if you’re on my side. Don’t you get it? I had a Parabatai, Alec. I understand what it’s like to share your soul. If you join me, Jace may see reason. He may not fight with me, but he won’t fight against me. Clarissa is not as powerful alone as she is with him. You’re a reasonable leader. You joining me would show the others that I am not wrong.”  
Alec raised himself to his knees, and try as he might, he couldn’t find the strength to stand up all the way. His head was spinning and he was looking everywhere but at Magnus and at the slowly spreading blood on the ground. He wanted to be sick, but he took a few deep breaths.  
“You’ll have to kill me,” he whispered, “Because I will never join you. Jace will never stop fighting against you and I hope Clary kills you. She doesn’t deserve a father like you.”  
“Lightwoods,” Valentine muttered, “So damn stubborn.”  


Alec was vaguely aware of Valentine getting closer, before everything went dark.

\----------  


Things came back into focus in pieces. He was aware of Valentine’s voice first, though he couldn’t remember what Valentine was doing. He became aware of the dirt on the ground, how hard it was, and the pounding in his head.  
It took another moment to register the blood and to remember that it wasn’t his. It was Magnus’s. He turned, desperate to see Magnus breathing.  


But Magnus lay quite still and quiet silent. Alec pressed down a sob. Valentine was speaking to the Angel, and Alec racked his brain for a way to use this distraction to his advantage. He prayed the Angel would not mention him. Somewhere, Raziel had to know Valentine was evil. He had to know that killing all of the Downworlders was not the right path. Raziel had created the the Nephilim to protect the world from demons, not to quarrel with Downworlders. Raziel had to understand this.  
Alec wished he’d woken up a bit earlier. Maybe he could have figured out a way to get to Valentine before he’d summoned Raziel.  
Alec was handcuffed, but Magnus was dead, and the rest of the Downworld was going to follow if he didn’t do something. He made a mental promise to Magnus that no more innocents were going to die tonight, and pushed himself up.  


If he died trying to bring down Valentine, so be it, but he’d be damned if he sat here and watched Valentine kill half the Shadow World. Handcuffs or not, he was a trained fighter, and he was about to prove that.  
Valentine didn’t see it coming, which gave Alec enough of an upper hand to stop him bleeding into the lake. Apparently Raziel needed blood to grant a wish. There was a lot Alec thought was wrong with this, but he didn’t have time for a morality debate with Raziel right now.  
But the element of surprise was all Alec had going for him right now. Valentine was armed, and not handcuffed, but Alec was fighting out of pure hatred. It wasn’t something he usually did. He preferred to fight with calculated moves. He liked logic, and planning. Which move wasn’t going to get him killed? Which move could Jace or Izzy work best with?  


That didn’t matter anymore. He was nearly blind in his anger, and though he took a few good kicks to the stomach, and a punch that made him see stars, he had Valentine on the ground. His advantage was retuning. His rage was going to bring Valentine down. They taught Shadowhunters to control their emotions, that emotions were nothing but a distraction, but Alec thought that his anger was helping him focus. He thought of nothing but this fight, and how to win.  
It was dangerous to fight out of pure hatred.  


If he’d had the knife, he might have done it, but the knife lay where Valentine had dropped it on the rocks near the water, and besides not wanting to risk going and grabbing it and letting Valentine regain the advantage, he thought Clary or Jace deserved that final blow.  
He was, however, going to make Valentine hurt. He was going to make Valentine hurt for Clary and Luke, and the pain of losing their mother and love. He was going to make Valentine pay for all the horrors he inflicted on Jace, who was only a child. Alec knew how badly Jace suffered at the hands of this man who pretended to be Jace’s father. He’d pay for pain he had caused Alec’s family, and for Magnus. He’d pay even more for what he had done to Magnus.  


And, Alec discovered, enough hits to the head with metal handcuffs knocks a person out.  


It took the thought of Magnus growing cold to get Alec back to the present. He’d have probably stayed there, hitting Valentine until he couldn’t anymore. It wasn’t an effective way to go about fighting, but enough hits would have done some serious damage. He didn’t have time to discover how many hits it took to kill though.  
Valentine’s blood had joined Magnus’s and his own on his shirt and hands.  
Breathing heavily, he jumped up and searched for the knife. Without much more thought, he sliced his hand and let the blood drip into the water. His mind was only one thing, Magnus. He needed Magnus to be alive and everything else could be solved after.  
“I don’t want the Downworlders to die,” he sobbed, “Don’t let them die. Can I have another wish?”  


His head was spinning, and the Angel was so bright he had some trouble looking straight at him because it only made it spin more. The Angel hadn’t spoken yet, and as the time passed, Valentine was getting closer to waking up. No matter how much damage he’d inflicted, Alec thought he’d stay alive out of sheer evil. And Alec knew if they fought again, Alec wouldn’t survive. His hands shook.  


“Alexander Lightwood,” Raziel replied, “I will grant you one favor. Choose very wisely. You will not get a second chance.”  
“Magnus,” he whispered, then cleared his throat to speak louder, “Please bring Magnus back. Please.”  
Raziel didn’t reply, he just disappeared, leaving the lake dark and still once more. Alec rushed back over to Magnus.  
“Please,” he whispered, “Please work. Please come back.”  
Magnus stirred, ever so slightly. If he hadn’t been ultra focused on Magnus, he might not have seen it. Alec inhaled sharply.  
Please please please. That was the only thought in his head now.  
“Magnus?” he said again, hope filling his voice. He didn’t imagine that. He couldn’t have.  
His eyes fluttered open, and Alec practically fell against his chest.  
“What happened?” Magnus asked, sounding as if he’d just woken up from a very deep sleep, “Are you ok?”  
Alec nodded, and a sob hitched in his throat.  
“Alexander?” Magnus had seen all of the blood on Alec, and assumed it was his own. His eyes scanned Alec for an injury, but besides some cuts, he couldn’t find an injury that would bleed that much.  


Alec helped Magnus sit up, and tried to calm his shaking hands, “Valentine raised the Angel. He’s out cold over there. I left him for Clary. I used the wish to bring you back.”  
Magnus took a moment to process all of this, which Alec didn’t mind, since he had been dead less than five minutes ago.  
“You brought be back?” he confirmed.  
Alec nodded, “I love you too. I can’t live without you Magnus. It’s that simple.”  
“You could have had anything.”  
“I don’t want anything. I want you. You’re alive. It’s a miracle from the angel.”  
“Alec?” A voice in the woods called.  
“Jace,” Alec muttered, squinting at the area the voice had come from, “Can you stand?”  
Magnus nodded, and once they stood up, kept his hands in Alec’s. This had been a very confusing night to say the least. He decided to focus on Alec. Alec’s hands, as covered in blood as they were and Alec’s voice, even though it was scratchy.  
The sounds of footsteps and voices were getting closer, and Magnus pulled Alec into a kiss. They stood there, keeping each other standing. Magnus was reeling from the shock of not being dead, and Alec was reeling from the shock of bringing him back.  


“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Magnus muttered, and Alec smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> i can't believe this angst kept me up at night this is wild


End file.
